


Comfort

by sallyamongpoison



Series: Thedas Wasteland AU [3]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Bathing/Washing, Comfort, M/M, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Nudity, Thedas Wasteland AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-22
Updated: 2015-11-22
Packaged: 2018-05-02 20:34:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5262554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sallyamongpoison/pseuds/sallyamongpoison
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Cullen helps make Dorian feel better after a rather terrible day.</p><p>Written for the prompt: Dorian has a miserable day and just can't anymore and so Cullen takes care of him. bonus points for wasteland AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Comfort

It had been a long day. Traveling was always difficult, but in bad weather it was an absolute nightmare. Pissing rain and cold had only been the start, then wind and lightning so bad that they’d had to take up shelter under a bridge that crossed a (mostly) dry creek. Miserable. They were, however, on a schedule and couldn’t exactly put off going until they hit their checkpoint. **  
**

Cullen had insisted on being the one to check on the Crossroads settlement. Leliana had gotten a bird saying they needed help training recruits, which was always the quickest way to get Cullen’s interest, and Dorian had offered to be his traveling companion because _of course_  he was going with him. Whenever Cullen made plans to go anywhere Dorian was right there with him. It was understood by now.

The checkpoint had been a cabin, partially fortified and actually clean, which Dorian had been thrilled to see. It didn’t have power, but it did have a water pump and they could figure out a fire pit to warm some to wash up. That had been the plan, anyway. After he’d sent Dorian inside while he did the perimeter check it just turned into them flopping down on the couch and enjoying not having weight on their feet and legs. Dorian was practically asleep already, and when Cullen finally got back to his feet he hardly moved.

So Cullen lit a fire in the fireplace, which would help warm the room, and went out to pump the meal bucket that had been left full of (mostly) clean water. He put the bucket on the small hook over the fire so it could warm, and set to peeling out of his wet clothes. On the couch, Dorian stirred and opened his eyes to watch as Cullen struggled out of his wet jeans and spread them out in front of the fire to dry.

“What a way to end a shitty day,” he commented, sleepy smile on his face, and Dorian dragged himself to a sitting position so he could get out of his wet clothes as well.

The fire was starting to heat the room, which was Maker sent after such a day, and by the time their clothes were hanging and stretched out in front of the hearth it was almost liveable. The heat was clearly working for Dorian too, because he stretched back out on the couch naked under a ratty blanket that had been in the cabinet. His eyes were heavy-lidded and puffy for want of sleep, though he was watching Cullen move as he set some food cans by the fire to warm and grabbed out some washrags from the makeshift kitchen.

Checkpoints like this were heaven, really. It certainly beat trying to camp out in the wilds when the weather was so bad. Of course it was doable, but that…that was just asking for bad shit to happen. At least here they could get reasonably comfortable and sleep in relative safety.

Cullen carefully pulled the now heated water from the fire and set it down on the floor beside the couch. He was smiling, something soft and caring, and carefully inched the blanket off Dorian’s legs. This was something he did when they had a chance, something he knew Dorian appreciated when he was pushed to his limits, and Cullen rather loved the result.

Slowly, he dipped the washrag in the hot water and set to rubbing it over Dorian’s feet. They were icy cold and swollen from being in wet sock and boots all day, and the man hissed happily as the wet, yet slightly rough, rag rubbed over them. Cullen made sure to keep the rag hot with the water, and washed up over the tops of Dorian’s feet and ankles to his calves. The hot water was dripping everywhere, which hardly mattered, which actually served to help keep Cullen a bit warmer too.

“Maker’s balls,” Dorian swore as the hot rag ran up and down his legs, Cullen’s fingers chasing after it to seet out the knotted and tense muscles that the warm couldn’t quite loosen.

It went that way for a while: Cullen washed over that gorgeous bronze skin that was lit up by the fire, and before long Dorian lay on the couch clean and warm and half asleep. He always groaned his appreciation, especially when Cullen’s fingers found somewhere sore, and smiled as Cullen bent to kiss his forehead once he’d finished wiping the last of the wet and grime from along Dorian’s neck and behind his ears.

“Better?” Cullen asked.

Dorian made a soft sound in the affirmative, which made Cullen laugh, and he set to using what was left of the now warm water to wash up himself. That was at least enough to make him feel human. It perhaps wasn’t as sensual as what he’d done for Dorian, but he was warm and clean and didn’t feel like a drowned rat. Out in the wilds, that was about as good as it was going to get. Anything more was a luxury.

They ate in relative silence, save for the fire crackling and the wind outside, and when the cans were empty Cullen settled back on the couch with Dorian’s feet in his lap. Large, warm hands started up a massage, seeking out all the sore places he’d found before, and Cullen smiled as Dorian groaned again. His fingers dug into the other man’s arches, wincing for the knots he felt until they finally eased a little. They’d never be completely comfortable, but this was at least something he could do. Slowly his hands moved upward, along Dorian’s calves and up to his thighs until Cullen twirled a finger in a circle to get Dorian to roll over.

The knots in Dorian’s back were harder. They were built up from carrying a heavy pack and covered with chafing from wet clothes and rubbing from the backpack. Cullen kept his hands firm but still gentle as he moved upward, and smiled for the rather enthusiastic sounds Dorian made. He was clearly trying hard not to fall asleep, judging by how one arm hung off the couch and his face was buried in his other elbow. Cullen rather loved this. He loved feeling Dorian unravel under his hands, loved that even amid trying to survive he could give the man he cared for so much some kind of luxury, and tried to do it as often as he could.

“Cullen,” Dorian whined as meaty fingers dug into his upper arms.

“Hm?”

Dorian rolled over, awkward as it was with Cullen straddling his hips with one leg braced on the floor, and he looked up with those same heavy-lidded eyes. He was smiling, mustache wrecked, and it was probably one of the top three things Cullen had ever seen. Who knew that the man from the Ruined Imperium, the sniper who had stumbled into Haven with a dozen Venatori drifters on his heels after he’d killed a half dozen more, could look so serene? More than that, who knew that he’d ever look at a man like Cullen like that?

“You don’t have to do that, you know,” Dorian mused, as he reached out a hand to run it along Cullen’s thigh.

They were both ignoring the fact that they were both hard from that massage. How could Cullen  _not_  be after listening to Dorian groan and feel him wiggle under him? How could  _Dorian_  not be after having Cullen’s hands, paws as he liked to tease, all over him? Instead, they took in the almost foreign look of them both being clean, dry, warm, and all three  _at once_  while they were traveling. Together. Interest aside, though they were both too tired to do much about it, it was a nice moment to revel in.

Cullen shrugged after a long moment and bent down, one arm braced beside Dorian’s ear, to kiss him, “Shitty day,” he pointed out after the kiss finally broke, “you needed it.”

“Mm, I did,” Dorian agreed, “but I don’t want you to think you have to.”

“I promised to take care of you, didn’t I?” Cullen asked.

“That hardly means massages in the middle of the wilds during a thunderstorm.”

A grin spread across Cullen’s scarred lips and he leaned in for another kiss, “That’s  _exactly_  what that means.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on tumblr! @sallyamongpoison


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